Abra governor wants better image of province

BANGUED, Abra – Acting Gov. Russel Bragas underscored the importance of changing the image of the province from a conflict-stricken area to a peaceful and progressive locality to entice prospective investors to establish their businesses in strategic places provincewide to spur economic growth in the future.
Brags, who is serving as the province’s local chief executive following the successive suspension of Gov. Dominic Valera and his daughter Vice-gov. Maria Jocelyn Valera-Bernos, said that the successful conduct of this year’s Kawayan Festival is the start of a difficult task of initiating the needed change in the image of the province to ensure growth and development towards a better quality of life for the people of Abra.
“We all desire for a progressive province and we want to showcase Abra to be peaceful where the people are united and working together as one. We want to disprove negative reports about Abra that painted a bad image of our province to outsiders and we were able to gain initial headway in our efforts during the recently concluded Kawayan festival activities,” Acting Gov. Bragas stressed.
He narrated about Abra’s hosting of the first motocross night race that drew the active participation of motocross enthusiasts from different parts of the country where they saw how warmly they were welcomed and treated that contributed in providing them a better perception of the province unlike what has been projected in the media following a series of violent incidents, aside from the fact that it is their first time to join a night race.
Further, Abra also hosted a two-day bucket tournament of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), courtesy of Rep. Ching Bernos and League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) national president and La Paz Mayor Joseph Sto. Nino Bernos, to aggressively change the province’s image considering its potentials to become one of the economic and investment hubs in the cordillera.
Bragas also pointed out that the active participation of the 27 towns and the various government agencies and the private sector in the different activities in this year’s Kawayan Festival is a clear testament of the strong desire of the people to realize the needed change in image of their province from a violent-stricken area to a peaceful and progressive province worth passing on to future generations of Abrenians.
He expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders, both from the government and private sectors, for their individual and collective efforts that made this year’s Kawayan Festival activities a success, a clear testament of the desire of the people to embrace the necessary changes that will improve the perception of people on the real situation in Abra and for them to know of the province’s potentials in terms of tourism, sports and other major economic activities that will help facilitate peace and progress in the future.
vowed to maximize his remaining days, as the province’s acting local chief executive, to institute the appropriate reforms that will trigger the needed change for a better Abra from now on and even beyond the turnover of power to the duly elected governor on June 30, 2025 after the May 12, 2025 mid-term elections. By Dexter A. See